One of the joys of being from Upstate New York is having New York City just a stone’s throw away. There is next to nothing as spectacular as seeing a performance live in a city as vast and full of energy as Manhattan. The wide array of venues, both small and large, have hosted some of the biggest names in the world. The Roseland Ballroom is one of those venues and is set to close in April of 2014.
The West 52nd street venue has been home to a plethora of different musical and non musical performances throughout the years. The venue was originally opened as a dance hall until it was torn down and relocated to its current location, which was originally intended as an ice skating and roller skating rink. The hall held great amounts of character in its architecture and decor making it a colorful and quirky addition to the long list of historical venues in Manhattan.
The venue has hosted all types of events from Hillary Clinton’s birthday party, to annual gay circuit parties, movie premiers, and every type of musical performance in between. The venue is also known as the backdrop to many of David Letterman’s outside skits, as his studio is directly next door.
Roseland Ballroom is owned by Larry Ginsberg and booked by Live Nation, and in terms of capacity and location it is extremely ideal. According to Billboard Magazine the competition that is brought by AEG’s Best Buy Theater at about 2,500, the 3,500-capacity Hammerstein Ballroom, Bowery Presents’ Terminal 5 at 3,000 cap and the 2,800-cap Beacon Theatre, operated by Madison Square Garden is most likely not the reasoning behind shutting down the venue, but instead most likely attributed to property value.
There is still yet to be an official announcement and it is still entirely unclear as to why the ballroom will close it’s doors come April, but it will certainly be sad to see a place with so much history, character and potential go.
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